High blood pressure, often called the "silent killer" because it frequently presents no symptoms until it reaches the crisis stage, makes you more susceptible to heart attacks, strokes, kidney damage, vision and memory loss, a build-up of fluid in your lungs and angina. High blood pressure can also cause erectile dysfunction in men. High blood pressure damages your arteries, making it easier for you to develop high cholesterol.
High Blood Pressure Damages Arteries
High blood pressure puts pressure on the walls of your arteries. This can cause small tears in your blood vessels. Your body normally repairs the damage, but scar tissue forms. Although your body tries to eliminate excess cholesterol in your body, the task grows harder when cholesterol and fat gets trapped by the scar tissue. Your arteries, compromised by the scar tissue, suffer additional blockages because of the trapped cholesterol. This process repeats itself and, over time, your cholesterol levels rise. This, in turn, can further elevate your blood pressure -- as your arteries narrow and harden because of cholesterol build-up, your heart works harder to pump blood to your organs.
High Blood Pressure and Heart Disease
Ideally, your blood pressure measures no higher than 120/80 mm Hg -- millimeters of mercury. If either the top number -- your systolic blood pressure -- or the lower number -- the diastolic blood pressures -- measures higher, you suffer from pre-hypertension or hypertension and your chance of developing cardiovascular disease increases. If your high blood pressure leads to high cholesterol -- a total cholesterol level of 220 mg/dl or more -- you further increase your risk. Additional risk factors include your age, gender, family history of heart disease and medical conditions such as diabetes. Lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking alcohol and lack of exercise can elevate both your blood pressure and cholesterol.
Salt and Potassium
You can also adopt a heart-friendly diet that aims to reduce your blood pressure and keep your cholesterol from rising to unhealthy levels. Simple dietary steps to reduce blood pressure include reducing sodium intake to no more than 2,300 mg daily. You can accomplish this by substituting other spices when cooking, removing salt shakers from your dining table and avoiding processed foods, including deli meats and soy sauce. If you buy canned vegetables, rinse them off before cooking. Potassium helps offset the effects of sodium in your body. Aim to include 4,700 mg of potassium in your diet by including foods such as bananas, sweet potatoes, baked potatoes with skins attached, non-fat dairy products and beans in your diet.
Fiber
Adding fiber to your diet can help reduce blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein -- LDL or "bad" cholesterol. The American Dietetic Association recommends that women include 25 g of fiber and men 38 g of fiber in their daily menu plans. High-fiber foods that can help you meet ADA recommendations include black beans, kidney beans, lima beans, oatmeal, wheat bran, berries, citrus fruit, fruit with edible seeds or skin and whole grain cereal, bread and rice.
References
- American Heart Association; About High Blood Pressure; April 13 2011
- Mayo Clinic: High Cholesterol; June 24 2010
- American Heart Association; About High Blood Pressure: Understanding Blood Pressure Readings; 2011
- Mayo Clinic: Healthy Diet: End the Guesswork with These Nutrition Guidelines; Feb. 22 2011
- American Dietetic Association, Eat Right; Potassium Power; Joan Salge Blake; Aug. 1 2010
- MayoClinic.com: Nutrition and Healthy Eating -- Dietary Fiber: Essential For A Healthy Diet, 2009
